


A Dragon's Bane

by EmberForge



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, slight spoilers for Chroma Conclave arc?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-01 20:32:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16291286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmberForge/pseuds/EmberForge
Summary: Dragons are... a lot. Keyleth needs some help dealing with that.





	A Dragon's Bane

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, I love Keyleth and Percy's friendship so much. Found this half finished in my notes and decided to do something about it. Hope you like it!

There was joy in the air as music and laughter rang out through the tavern, a rare moment of peace where drinks were plentiful and cares were few. But for once, Keyleth hadn't touched a drop of liquor all night. There was something just under her skin that had been building all day, a buzzing that made her feel restless and ill at ease. 

Laughter should have been pleasing to hear, but instead each sound grated on her nerves, her head turning this way and that as she somehow needed to catalogue where each noise came from while at the same time tried valiantly to ignore each one. A sharp crashing sound made her jump in her seat, and she glanced across the room to see a drunk Grog had fallen into a table, crushing it and sending shards of glass scattering to the floor. Her gaze flitted around nervously, but the other patrons mostly seemed to be amused by the event, rather than angry. Still, she felt herself trembling a bit, and decided that it would be best to escape to somewhere quieter.

Exiting out the door, she thought the fresh air would be better for her nerves, but somehow leaving the chaos behind felt like some sort of barrier breaking. She quickly started to make her way to the closest trees she could find- a sparse little patch of four near the edge of a high wall about twenty yards away. She was relieved to be away from the noise, but the noise in her head had only become louder in comparison, and she quickly found herself sinking down to sit against a tree.

Keyleth felt her breathing increase rapidly, coming out in sharp gasps. She clenched her hands into fists as tears sprung in her eyes. What was wrong with her? Umbrasyl was dead. They actually had a rare night where they didn't have to worry about planning for the next day. The others were so happy that they got to relax for a moment. So why couldn't she do the same?

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, desperately trying to take in air. At some point she twisted one hand into her hair, the other coming to rest against the gnarled bark of the tree beneath her, searching for something to ground her, but nothing worked. 

"Keyleth? Is that you?"

Keyleth didn't hear him approach, but the voice that called out to her was unmistakably Percy's. She opened her eyes and couldn't find the air to answer, but after a moment he stepped forward and was lowering himself to the ground. She immediately leaned into Percy's side as he sat down next to her, and it only took moments for him to notice the tears in her eyes. "Keyleth, what's wrong?"

The hand twisted in her hair came up to grip tightly at the lapel of his coat. "I can't... I can't catch my breath. Why can't I..." She felt more tears fall unwillingly as she struggled to get words out between breaths.

Percy immediately laid his hand over hers, shifting it slightly to be resting on his chest instead of bunched in his coat. "Darling, I think you're having a panic attack. Just take deep, even breaths. You can do it; you just need to focus. Breathe with me, alright?" He squeezed the hand he was holding before taking in deep, exaggerated breaths, encouraging her to do the same.

"Good," Percy encouraged, noticing a difference after a few minutes of coaching. "It might help to put your thoughts to a mindless task, as well. Maybe try singing a song in your head? Something you know well."

She started to hum an old lullaby that her mother used to sing to her as a child, focusing on trying to make every note exact. Percy just sat silently next to her, one hand holding her trembling one while the other rubbed soothing circles onto her back. After a long while, she managed to take one final, deep breath, and rubbed away the lingering tears with the back of her hand.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"Of course."

"Why did... why did you come find me?"

"You left ten minutes ago and didn't come back. I knew something must be wrong, I just didn't know what."

Keyleth shifted a bit. Percy's hand moved from her back to her shoulder, pulling her into a loose embrace at his side. "I'm sorry," Keyleth said. "About... that. I mean, I know I can get really emotional about things, but panicking like this is a really recent development and I-"

"Keyleth, it's alright," Percy soothed. "I'm not unfamiliar with it myself."

"I just... everything was going so _well_ after we defeated the Briarwoods, Percy. For just a moment, I thought everything was going to be okay. And then the dragons came. We got lucky, escaping Emon. And we were even luckier with defeating Umbrasyl. But sucessfully killing four chromatic dragons? Our luck has to run out, hasn't it?" She sighed. "I just want everything to be okay," she finished with a whisper.

Percy ran his hand up and down her arm soothingly. "It will be. It might take some time, but it will be. This earth survived a war of the gods, remember. Dragons pale in comparison. And we're not doing this on our own. Cassandra, Gilmore, Kima, Allura, and so many more that we don't even know about are fighting alongside us because they believe that we can succeed. 

"Hope is a powerful thing. It keeps civilization alive. And it's because the dragons do not believe in it that they will fall."

Keyleth looked over to him. "You're really good with words, Percy."

"It's easy to be when you're telling the truth."

"Some might say it's even easier to lie."

"I suppose you're right. But you're far too clever to not call out my bullshit if I was lying to you."

The statement actually caused a weak grin to form on Keyleth's lips. "Yeah. You know, you're always right, too."

"Could you tell Cassandra that the next time we see her? She doesn't seem to have the same good sense that you do."

Keyleth gave a playful shove to his shoulder, and he just gave hers a warm squeeze in retaliation. They fell silent after that, staring up into the night sky and watching the stars twinkle far above their heads. Ancient. Immovable. Little lights that cut through the darkness.


End file.
